I. ˈlät, usu -äd.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hlot; akin to Old High German luz share of land, Old Norse hlutr lot, share, hlautr, Gothic hlauts lot, Lithuanian kliudyti to cause to hook on, and perhaps to Latin claudere to close — more at close
1. : an object (as a piece of wood, pebble, die, straw) used as one of the counters in determining a question by the chance fall or choice of one or more of them — see sortilege
2.
a. : the use of lots or an equivalent process (as counting off) as a means of deciding something
one was chosen by lot to represent the group
b. : the choice resulting from such process
the lot fell on the youngest member
3.
a. : something that comes to or happens to one upon whom a choice by lot has fallen : share , part , allotment
the will provided for equal lots for all the children
you have neither part nor lot in this matter — Acts 8: 21 (Revised Standard Version)
b. : one's way of life or one's share of worldly reward or privation determined by chance, fate, or divine providence : fortune , destiny
the lot of man, to suffer and to die — Alexander Pope
a policeman's lot is not a happy one — W.S.Gilbert
one of those women who have always been resigned to the limitations of their lot — Nadine Gordimer
4. obsolete : a customs fee : tax , duty
5. obsolete
a. : a lottery prize
b. : a prizewinning lottery ticket
6.
a. : an allotment or portion of land set aside for a special purpose
each settler was awarded a lot
pasture lot
burial lot
circus lot
used-car lot
b. : a measured parcel of land having fixed boundaries and designated on a plot or survey
farm cut up into house lots
building lot
c. : a parcel of land in fact used for, intended for, or appropriated to a common purpose
manufacturing lot
refuse lot
d. chiefly North : a small pasture
e. chiefly South & Midland : cow pen , barnyard
f. : parking lot
g. : a motion-picture studio and its adjoining property
7.
a. : a number of units of an article
stationery lot
or a parcel of articles offered as one item (as in an auction sale)
b. : all the members of a present group, kind, or quantity — used with the
one more suitcase to carry out and that is the lot
when you've seen one you've seen the lot
8.
a. : a number of associated persons : crew , set , crowd
got in with a hard-drinking poker-playing lot
his wife's family were a queer and stubborn lot
nothing but a lot of busybodies
not an honest man in the lot
b. : kind , sort
stay away from him, he's a bad lot
recruits were a sorry lot
9. : a considerable quantity or number : great deal
lot of money
lot of trouble
there are lots of books on the subject
— often used adverbially with a
feels a lot better now
Synonyms: see fate
II. verb
( lotted ; lotted ; lotting ; lots )
Etymology: Middle English lotten, from lot, n.
intransitive verb
: to cast or draw lots
transitive verb
1. : to form or divide into lots
lot land
lot fruit for market
— often used with out
lot out goods in parcels
2. : allot , apportion
3. obsolete : to draw lots for
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- lot on
III. abbreviation
lotion